iOS App User Guide

The Efexio App allows you to add professional-grade CGI special effects or "Effect Shots" to your own videos in a fun and easy way. A variety of Effect Shots are available on the Efexio Store, which is accessible from the Efexio App. Effect Shots are three-dimensional and customizable so you can realistically add them into any video. Once you've transformed your video with an Effect Shot, you can easily share it with friends and family from within the App.

Accessing Your Effect Shots

Effect Shots you purchase on the Efexio Store are added to your library of Shots in the Efexio App. You can access them by tapping on the button labeled "Library" (A, below). Once you are in your library, tap an Effect Shot icon to open it.

Buying Effect Shots from the Efexio Store

You can access the Efexio Store from within the Efexio App by tapping on the button labeled "Store" (A, below). Each Effect Shot available on the Store is represented by an icon showing a screen shot of the Effect Shot. Tapping on an icon will display more information on the Effect Shot including its price, additional screen shots and a preview. To buy an Effect Shot, tap on the button labeled "Buy". If you want an Pro Effect Shot, tap on the button labeled "Buy Pro". The purchased Effect Shot will then be added to your library.

Pro version of Effect Shots

The standard version of an Effect Shot can be added to videos with a maximum resolution of 960 x 540. The Pro version increases this maximum resolution to 1920 x 1080 and has higher resolution textures and lower animation compression.

Note on controls

Tap on the control icons shown below to access controls that allow you to make various adjustments to customize Effect Shots. Each set of controls is described in more detail below. The Quick and Custom Controls are for basic adjustments that allow you to realistically add an Effect Shot to your video. The other controls are for more advanced adjustments that allow you to make the Effect Shot look like an even more realistic part of your video. You can scroll through the controls by swiping your finger over the controls panel shown below. A bright blue highlight around a controls icon shows the controls that are currently selected. In the image below, the Quick Controls are selected.

Note on sliders

Choosing a video

Tap on the video camera icon (A, below). You will have the option of opening a video or a photo. Choose the video option. You can then choose to either shoot a video using your mobile device's camera or open a video from your photo library. To shoot a video, select the camera option. To open a video, select the photo library option and choose the one you want to use to open it. The App includes pre-loaded sample videos that you can use to start adding Effect Shots to videos right away.

PLEASE NOTE THAT AS YOU FILM A VIDEO, YOU CANNOT PAN THE CAMERA. CAMERA MOVEMENT DURING THIS TIME SHOULD BE AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE.

Choosing a photo

Tap on the video camera icon. You will have the option of opening a video or a photo. Choose the photo option. You can then choose to either take a photo using your mobile device's camera or open a photo from your photo library. To take a photo, select the camera option. To open a photo, select the photo library option and choose the one you want to use to open it.

Quick Controls

Changing the placement and size of an Effect Shot

Touch and drag the Effect Shot to position it where you want. Pinch in and out to change its size.

Rotating an Effect Shot

Effect Shots are three-dimensional. This means that you can rotate them in any way you like to look at them from any angle of view. Touch the trackball labeled "Rotation" (A, below) and move it to the left, right, up or down to rotate the Effect Shot in three dimensions. The blue circle on the trackball represents the angle of the Effect Shot in three-dimensional space.

Moving the shadows cast by an Effect Shot
Touch the trackball labeled "Light Direction" (B, below) and move it to the left, right, up or down to move the shadows in any direction. The yellow circle on the trackball shows the direction from which the light is coming.

Trimming a video

You can trim the beginning or end of your video using the trimming tool in the App. Tap the trimming icon (A, below) to show the frames in your video. To trim the beginning or end of your video, drag the start marker (B, below) to the right to trim the beginning or the end marker (C, below) to the left to trim the end.

Playing, resetting and scrolling through an animation

Most Effect Shots include an animation. First, select the animation icon (A, below). Then, to play the animation, tap the play icon (B, below). To reset the animation, tap the reset icon (C, below). To scroll through the animation, drag the slider (D, below). DURING PLAYBACK OF AN ANIMATION IN THE APP, YOU WILL NOTICE THAT THE EDGES OF THE OBJECTS IN THE EFFECT SHOT BECOME LESS SMOOTH. THE QUALITY IS REDUCED TO IMPROVE SPEED. WHEN YOU EXPORT A VIDEO (THROUGH THE SHARE FUNCTION), THE EFFECT SHOT WILL BE EXPORTED IN FULL QUALITY.

Playing, resetting and scrolling through a video

First, select the filmstrip icon (E, below). Note that you must first open a video in order to select the filmstrip icon. Then, to play the video, tap the play icon (B, below). To reset the video, tap the reset icon (C, below). To scroll through the video, drag the slider (D, below).

Playing, resetting and scrolling through a video and animation together

First, select the lock icon (F, below). Then, to play the video and animation together, tap the play icon (B, below). To reset both the video and animation, tap the reset icon (C, below). To scroll through the video and animation together, drag the slider (D, below). DURING PLAYBACK OF AN ANIMATION IN THE APP, YOU WILL NOTICE THAT THE EDGES OF THE OBJECTS IN THE EFFECT SHOT BECOME LESS SMOOTH. THE QUALITY IS REDUCED TO IMPROVE SPEED. WHEN YOU EXPORT A VIDEO (THROUGH THE SHARE FUNCTION), THE EFFECT SHOT WILL BE EXPORTED IN FULL QUALITY.

Synchronizing an Effect Shot with your video

If you want to synchronize part of an animation to a frame in your video, you can use controls A, E, D and F shown below. First, select the video icon and find the frame in your video you want to synchronize using the slider (D, below). Then, select the animation icon and find the part of the animation that you want to synchronize to the video frame you selected using the slider (D, below). Then, select the lock button. If you then play the animation and video together by tapping the play icon (C, below) your video and animation will be synchronized.

Using 3D guides to position Effect Shots

If the Effect Shot has an animation, you can use 3D guides that will show you how the Effect Shot, as you have positioned it, will move when you play the animation. Then, you can adjust the position of the Effect Shot so that it moves where you want it to move. To load the 3D guides, tap the 3D guide icon (A, below).

Adding a sound effect

If the Effect Shot includes a sound effect, you can select to include or exclude it in the video you create by tapping the sound effect icon (A, below). A line across the icon means that the current selection is to exclude it. A gray sound effect icon indicates that the Effect Shot does not include a sound effect. Note that if you have a video open in the App, you can only hear the sound effect if only the animation is selected for playback purposes. To select only the animation, tap the dino head icon next to the scissors icon. You will not be able to hear the sound effect if your selection is the video (film strip icon) or the animation and video together (lock icon).

Sharing or saving your Effect Shot-enhanced video

Once you have added an Effect Shot to a video, you can save it to your photo library, share it on YouTube or email it by tapping the share icon (A, below). You will be asked whether you want to export a video or a photo. Choose the video option. You will then be asked whether you used a tripod or handheld the camera to film the video. If you handheld the camera, the App will adjust for the movement, provided it is not too much. The App will alert you if there is too much movement. Once the adjustment process is complete, the App will export the video to YouTube, attach it to an email or save it to your photo library. Note that you can also export a frame of your video as a photo. Simply choose to export a photo after tapping the share icon (A, below). In that case, the current frame of your video will be exported.

Sharing or saving your Effect Shot-enhanced photo

Once you have added an Effect Shot to a photo, you can save it to your photo library, share it on Facebook or Twitter or email it by tapping the share icon (A, below). If you've added an Effect Shot to a video you can also export a frame of it as a photo by choosing to export a photo after tapping the share icon (A, below). In that case, the current frame of your video will be exported.

Custom Controls

An Effect Shot may include custom controls that allow you to change some aspect of the Effect Shot in some way. Some examples of custom controls include changing the color of objects and changing the amount of dust, fire or wind. Tap the Custom Controls icon to access these controls.

Matching the ambient light in a video

To increase how realistic an Effect Shot looks in your video, you can change the color of the ambient light (overall lighting) in the Effect Shot to match the ambient light in your video. Tap the Ambient Light control icon to make these adjustments. To select a color, use the color matrix (A, below) and drag the slider (B, below) to change the brightness. To select black, drag the slider fully to the left. To select white, drag the slider fully to the right.

Adjusting the direction of the shadows cast by an Effect Shot and changing the color of the light source creating the shadows

You can move the position of the shadows cast by an Effect Shot by moving the Light Direction control in the Quick Controls as explained above. You can also access that control by tapping the Light 1 control icon. The Light 1 controls will also let you change the color and brightness of the light source creating the shadows, which can be, a lamp, the moon or the sun, among others, to match the color and brightness of the light source in your video. This will increase how realistic the Effect Shot will look. To select a color, use the color matrix (A, below) and drag the slider (B, below) to change the brightness. To select black, drag the slider fully to the left. To select white, drag the slider fully to the right.

Adjusting the fill light to make the lighting more realistic

An Effect Shot may include up to two fill lights that you can adjust to match other lighting in your video and increase how realistic the Effect Shot looks in your video. If it does, the controls will show up as Light 2 and Light 3. By tapping the control icons for these additional light sources, you can change their color. To do so, select a color from the color matrix and drag the slider to change the brightness. To select black, drag the slider fully to the left. To select white, drag the slider fully to the right.

Adjusting the lightness and color of the shadows cast by an Effect Shot and adding blur

To increase how realistic an Effect Shot looks in your video, you can change the lightness of the shadows cast by an Effect Shot to match the shadows in your video. You can also add a color cast and blur. Tap the Shadows controls icon to make these adjustments. Add blur by dragging the Blur slider (A, below) and change the lightness by dragging the Lightness slider (B, below). To select a color for the color cast, use the color matrix (C, below) and drag the slider (D, below) to change the brightness. To select black, drag the slider fully to the left. To select white, drag the slider fully to the right.

Adjusting the saturation, contrast and color cast of an Effect Shot and adding blur

You can change the saturation and color cast of an Effect Shot to match that of objects in your video making the Effect Shot look like a more realistic part of your video. You can also add blur. Tap the Blend controls icon to make these adjustments. Drag the blur slider (A, below) to add Blur, the Saturation slider (B, below) to change the color saturation and the Gamma slider (C, below) to change the contrast. Select a color for the color cast from the color matrix (D, below) and drag the slider (E, below) to change the brightness. To select black, drag the slider fully to the left. To select white, drag the slider fully to the right.

Making an Effect Shot get bigger as it gets closer and matching camera tilt

Tap the Camera controls icon. If you want an Effect Shot to get bigger as it gets closer, increase the camera angle of view by dragging the Angle of View slider (A, below) to the right. If your camera was tilted sideways when you filmed your video, you can match the tilt of the Effect Shot with the Camera Roll slider (B, below).

Adding fog to an Effect Shot

You can add fog to an Effect Shot to match fog in your video. You can also add fog to give the illusion of distance. Tap the Fog control icon to access controls that allow you to change the density of fog and its color. Drag the Density slider (A, below) to change the density. Select a color for the fog from the color matrix (B, below) and drag the slider (C, below) to change the brightness. To select black, drag the slider fully to the left. To select white, drag the slider fully to the right.